| KG4QQR |
Rating:  |
2007-03-19 | |
| Great tribute to a silent key |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I bought my W9INN many years ago and kept it carefully packed in the back of my closet. A few weeks ago I dug it out and ran my teenager up on the roof to help hang it. Center is about 12 meters up and the ends are at 4 meters. Required absolutely zero tuning and get great reception on 80, 40, 20, 15 & 10 meters. Too bad W9INN went Silent Key a couple years ago. His handmade antennas are among some of the best I've seen. Unfortunately his business closed with his passing. We lost a great ham and a great antenna at the same time. |
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| AG5Y |
Rating: |
2003-04-16 | |
| Great Results |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| After using the B&W terminated folded dipole for about a year, and deciding I was not happy with it's transmit performance, I noticed the small ad in QST for the W9INN antenna. Once I received the antenna, I installed it and checked it all out - had some adjustments to do on 10 and 40 meters to get to the band segment I wanted and have enjoyed it ever since. Surprisingly, the receive is much better than the B&W and I am convinced the transmit is much better. I recommend the W9INN antenna over the B&W anyday! |
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| W0EKS |
Rating: |
2003-03-24 | |
| Outstanding |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I have had W9INN's MPD-5C-78 (78 foot version) up above my roof for almost 5 years. I have never had to take it down for maintenance in spite of hail, freezing rain, heavy snow (Minnesota), thunderstorms, etc. It is well-built using high quality materials. The black-clad wiring used is a great low-profile benefit due to neighbors with "aluminuphobia". No capacitors to fail, yet resonates on 10, 15, 20, 40 & 80. Since I run barefoot using TV twin lead and an antenna tuner, I also do get out some on WARC bands, and also on 160 by top-hatting it. If you want to avoid a busy antenna farm or the much greater expense of a vertical, and still multi-band on HF, I highly recommend this antenna. See a diagram at
http://www.qsl.net/n0nv/w9inn.html |
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| TUBEGUY |
Rating: |
2003-02-22 | |
| Great antenna |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I would not hesitate to recommend this antenna to anyone. Works almost as good as a full size resonant dipole.The reason I say "almost as good" is it's a shortned antenna (86 feet),so there will be a little compromise. I find the fellow from a few reviews back that hated the antenna,and I found it hard to believe. Bill was always more than helpful on the phone,and the product was put together top-notch. Mine was put up in a hurry,(in the dark no less,with a flashlight under my arm),and works flawlessly.If mine ever got destroyed in a windstorm,etc., I would definitly order another. Mine,coincidentaly,is resonant on all the bands it's supposed to be 10-15-20-40-75,can't possibly imagine one that didn't work,and if it didn't,I think W9INN would happily replace it. Bottom line,it's not quite as good as a full size,resonant dipole,but there's not that much of a difference.Plus you gain multiple bands with one antenna and coax. WELL worth the money !!!! 73 |
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| N9XMX |
Rating: |
2003-01-04 | |
| A+++ Most bang for the BUCK! |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
Up 8+ months, and been a fantastic performer. Bill very friendly and helpful, even
helped me select the best antenna for my situation. Only one problem... I feel guilty for
paying so little for so much! How Bill can make these, custom cut, and offer phone
support for so little, is baffling. Better grab one quick before he wises up ! Going
to buy a second one (smaller) for camping and JOTA use. Cant go wrong here guys! |
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| KC2IWA |
Rating:  |
2003-01-03 | |
| JAN,2 2003 |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
| I have owned this antenna for 9 months and the performance has been next to nothing.I cannot get any decent swr on any band but 75m. I told Bill exactly the conditions and specs as he asked me to, on builing it.You mess with one band there goes another 10.15,20,40 horrible! Also his instructions on the wire antenna are terrible VERY HARD TO UNDERSTAND!!I also phoned Bill and asked him questions and he was entirely ignorant and cocky.My experience with this antenna is not good I would not recommend it. The reviews may look good on the mpd-5 and worked for some but not here.The antenna is down for good. |
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| W4YHD |
Rating: |
2002-11-04 | |
| Excellent Antenna! |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
I have used the 87 ft. 5-Band W9INN antenna for some time now and I must say the the performance in all areas has exceeded my expectations. Bill, W9INN, is a real pleasant person to work with and takes customer satisfaction seriously. Bill is a very talented antenna designer and custom builds each antenna himself. At the time of order you specify the resonant frequency for each band at a specific antenna mounting height. My antenna had resonances pretty close to the center frequencies chosen before adjustment. Bill uses nonresonant coils he terms "resonactors" to establish multiband capability using only two wire elements on each side of the feedpoint. These coils are NOT resonant traps and therefore should be very rugged, efficient, and reliable. Be prepared to raise and lower the antenna quite a few times as you adjust the wire "stubs" for exact frequency resonance on each band as these individual band "stub" adjustments do affect the other bands. VSWR bandwidths are adequate and somewhat wider than advertised. Construction quality is excellent with a very nice insulated wire used. Black wire and dark grey coil forms are used to reduce antenna visibility. Bill provides very nice instructions with the antenna, thus it is easy to assemble and adjust.
I replaced a 90 ft. B&W BWD1.8-30 broadband folded dipole with the 87 ft. W9INN 5-Band dipole, and the performance improvement is very large, especially on 40 and 80 meters. Be advised that, as Bill correctly notes in his instructions, the antenna does experience a movement down in resonant frequency on all bands when it rains and everything gets wet. Most wire antennas show this characteristic, however the resonactor design seems to be more sensitive to rain and heavy dew moisture influences. The resonant frequencies return quickly after the antenna coils begin to dry off so this is no real problem. The radiating efficiency must be very good as I have worked so many DX stations that can't believe my strong signal is from just a multiband dipole antenna! This antenna is mounted horizontal at a height of 40 ft.
This is one of the very best wire antennas available at any price. Many antenna models are available from W9INN so be sure to send for a catalog. Bill is a real pleasure to work with and he has answered all my questions with kindness and concern. Very highly recommended! |
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| KO4BI |
Rating: |
2002-07-31 | |
| Great antenna |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I've owned this antenna about three weeks and it is just wonderful. I needed a short wire antenna that worked 5 bands with 800 watts with no problem and this one delivers. It loads up well on the WARC bands with a tuner. I have it mounted on a push up pole about 35 feet, the ends are about 10 feet off the ground. It is easy to install, took me about two hours and I only have the use of one hand. I put it on a pully so I could easily raise and lower it to make adjustments. But I didn't need to make but one adjustment. I'm very pleased and you will be too. |
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| AB7SL |
Rating: |
2001-03-30 | |
| W9INN web page now available |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
W9INN has authorized me to create and publish a web page that describes his outstanding line of max performance wire antennas. A diagram of his popular MPD-5C is on the page as well as the 2:1 VSWR measured bandwidth. I have had this model up since 26-Apr-1996 and have 289 DXCC countries on it. Contact info (tel # and mailing address) are on the page. Click on the URL link at the top of this page. Once there click on the W9INN Antennas button. 73 / DX
Here is the site address - http://www.ab7sl.com
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Earlier 5-star review posted by AB7SL on 1999-12-03
W9INN has tiny ads in QST and CQ. He deserves full-page ads since his MPD-5 is a real scorcher of an antenna. It is a fan dipole with 2 wires of each side of the center connector seperated by wooden dowels. There are 2 models...78ft and 87 ft long with differing bandwidths. My 78ft model gives great SWR on all bands including 80M where it has about a 120KHZ 2:1 bandwidth. It takes full legal power and has no traps. Instead Bill uses what he calls 'resonactors' which act as a trap but have no physical capacitor component to ever fail. He pre tunes the antenna for you according to your specs. Mine was up and running in an hour. It features easy-to-use stub tuning for all 5 bands. I have 236 DXCC countries on Bill's antenna most with only 100W. Sells for around $100. Look for his ads......you'll need your magnifying glass! |
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| KK5CA |
Rating: |
2000-10-21 | |
| THIS is the dipole antenna to buy! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
In 17 years of HF ham radio, and this is the first coax fed, multi-band, HF dipole antenna I have seen that exhibits natural resonance on all five HF bands. The 87 foot model was installed at 48 feet, and here are the resulting 2:1 bandwidths:
80M 50 kHz
40M 150 kHz
20M 350 kHz (entire band)
15M 200 kHz
10M 600 kHz
The lowest SWR points were not the one's I specified when I ordered it, but the antenna is installed 15 feet higher than I identified too. I have not re-tuned it because the automatic tuner makes it so easy to jump bands and frequencies, why bother? I purchased the optional 1:1 current balun for another $20. The antenna arrived in about three weeks, and required two hours to drop the old one, assemble the new one, and haul it into position. |
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